BEV-Module 2

•Emanuel Kant’s Ethical Theory(Deontological)

•Comparison 0f Kantianism with Utilitarianism

•Doctrine of Aristotle•Indianism Concept

Kantianism

Kantian Theory( Deontological Theory) :1.We should not do anything that we should not

like to be done to us in similar circumstances. It is an ethical duty.

2.Kant proposed a simple test for personal duty to eliminate self interest and self deception.

3.Kantian approach is also labeled as DEONTOLOGICAL which in Greek means Duty. It is also called universalism.

1. According Kant , an action is morally right if the person is motivated by ‘goodwill’

2. Kant preached that ethics has nothing to do with consequences or human well-being but comes from a sense of duty and of obedience of moral law which a rational person must accept. Kant called this:

• Categorical or Absolute• Imperative of morality.3. Only those actions undertaken from sense of

duty, dictated by reason, are moral. Action dictated by customs or by law cannot be moral.

DETAILS KANTIANISM UTILITARIANISM

Explicit and Direct appeal to consequences in determining the outcome

Absent Yes

Motive for Action Sole Importance IncidentalGood in themselves Yes Only as a Means to the

End of maximizing Utility

Matters only in so far as they are conducive to Performing actions which Maximizes utility.

NO YES

ConsequentialistNon-consequentialist in flexibility

Very Strong Flexibility and Weak(where utilitarianism is weak and Kantianism is strong)

Permit the sacrificing of individuals or Minorities to collective self Interest

NO YES

Categorical Imperative or Law of Morality• In ethics of Kant, there is absolute command

of morality, irrespective of ulterior end or aim.• Everything in nature works according to law;

only rational beings has the power to act according to his conception of law.

• Categorical means positive, absolutely or without exception.

• Imperative means excessive of command• Kant says there is absolute unconditional

command of moral law.s

Example1. Employer is silent bout work place hazards in a

job offer and offers a big salary, good benefits, makes the job attractive. It is hard for the employee to turn down the job.

• Employer has not treated the employee with respect.

• Employer has not recognized you as an end in yourself, with interest of your own and the capacity to decide what risks you will or will not take.

• Employer hides important information to ensure you will do what he wants.

• According to Kant this is wrong.

Doctrine of the Mean of Aristotle

• Aristotle’s ethics is based on the concept of virtue. Moral character rather than right action is fundamental.

• Virtue ethics asks what kind of person a person should be.

• Role of ethics according to Aristotle is to enable us to lead a rewarding life, what we call good life

Good Life through virtues Possible only

for Who have

called

Persons who develop the traits of characters

Good LifeVirtuous person

Virtue

Aristotelian moral virtues• Courage• Generosity• Magnificence• High mindedness• Gentleness• Friendliness• Truthfulness• Wittiness• Honesty• Self-control• Modesty• Justice• Pride and sham

JUSTICE• Justice like right is an important concept.• Question of justice arise when there is something

to distribute.• According to Aristotle’s Neomachean ethics

justice has two meanings. One, it applies to the whole of virtue of a just or morally upright person; and in the other it is concerned with virue in specific situation.

• Distributive justice applies in social, political and economic situations where the benefits and burden of engaging in cooperative activities must be spread over a group.

VARIOUS TRADITIONS OF INDIANISM There are nine major Indian intellectual traditions.I. Arthashashtra Tradition(Wealth or material

advancement)-{Kautilya}- Pursuit of Artha is an important goal of human existence. It contains a number of management ideas.

• Artha is material well being, specially wealth- recognizes the rule “Matsa Naya”:Big fish eating the small fish.

• It provides a systematic treatment of human resources as early as 4th. Century BC. It provided principles and procedures in respect of labour organizations such as SHRENI or Guild System and cooperative sector.

• It has several pragmatic assumptions about the nature of man, his mentalities and tendencies. It provides insight into analysis of power, emphasizes the perfection of self-leadership.

• Throws light on how to develop good subordinates, provided ideas that appear to modern day managers.

II. Vedantic or pshycophilosophical tradition• Deals with divinity oriented view of human

nature.• Ramakrishna/Vivekanada are modern day

contributors to psychophilosophy. They said each soul is potentially divine. Goal of life is to manifest divinity within through work of worship, meditations or psychic control.

• Gita provides the Ideal of Karma Yoga- a basis for human action. Each person has the potential of infinity and it is possible to harness this potential.

III. Liberation from Oppression[LIFO]• Great saints have written about it.• Concern for the downtrodden is the essence.• Survival of the weakest and survival of all life

forms is the key concern, reflecting liberation from exploitation. When work place becomes oppressive, the need for liberation from oppression becomes vital.

IV. Multiple perspectives• A theory of relativity of Knowledge.• As per Jain tradition the “Syad” or viewing from

a particular view point as related to other view points is essential for arriving at the final conclusion.

• Hence a problem should be viewed from multiple perspective.

• A holistic approach to reality though admitting a “relativists view of things”

V. Gandhian Tradition• Based on theory of containment- overall

containment is key to happiness.• There is enough for every body’s need but not

for every body’s greed.• He criticized modernization and gave a number

of ideas for humanizing work places• Faith was based in goodness of human nature.• Emphasis on humanistic and harmonic

approach to human and social development.• Swadesi movement for self-reliance and eco-

friendly technology.

VI. Communism• Considers the common man as the pillar of

social drive.• World view based on historical

communism( degree of overall happiness)• Implies changes in solved policies as well as

functioning of the government under the directorship of the masses.

• Suggests a holistic view of development.

Uch interaction

VII.ConfluencismConfluence means a meeting point(Sangam).• Rigveda says that ‘let noble thoughts come to us

from every direction”.• Implies a creation of new ideas as a result of

such interaction.• Emphasis is on the ability to assimilate ideas and

transform them creatively.• Views history in terms of give and take process

of different cultures without any dominances-a two-way flow of ideas, rejecting forced cognitive dominances.

• Integrative indigenization of various social and management theories.

VIII.Cultural Nationalism• A social-psychological world view based on

the concept of a nation’s culture and self-dignity as a basis of societies regeneration.

• Gives prominence to cultural dimensions.• Argues for restoring self pride and self-

dignity.• Positive ideas can be brought in and negative

influences must be avoided for achieving social regeneration.

IX. OSHA Tradition(O=oneness with nature; S=Spiritual guna; H= Human guna; A=Animal guna)

• Ideas of Rajneesh, who rejected most of the current ideas of world views about man, state and society. OSH model depicts human behaviour and action

• OSHA model depicts human behaviour and the actions. They are:

Level O- Highest and the best form of human behaviour. It is O-oneness with natureA man who achieves this can be equated with the giver of divine energy. This is the stage of ‘Nirvana’

Level 1: Next alphabet of OSHA is S. It is a spiritual attribute of an individual’s behaviour, on the verge of reaching level O. To reach this every person must make effort with full determination.

Level 2: H – lower category of human attributeLevel 3: A – Represents animal attribute(guna)OSHA model conceptualizes three modes of

behavioral tendencies in terms of:Spiritual HumanAnimal

• These three tendencies are reflections of the Indian Psycho-Philosophy which are referred to the three gunas as:

Satva(Essence attribute)-refers to purity and illumination leading to individual bliss.

Rajas (Energy attributes) Refers to craving and attachment- Binds individuals to action

Tamas(Inertia attributes) Arises out of ignorance and dilution.

An organization can classified as Harmonic(S,S), Humanistic(H,H) or Animalistic(A,A) based on the particular type of interaction.

Holistic/ of organizationHarmonic Organization(SS dominates)

• People are at peace and things move in perfect harmony. Self imposed discipline is reflected.

Humanistic Organization(HH):• High concern for wellbeing of employees. There

is conscious effort to promote organization culture and the organization can be a place of fulfillment.

Animalistic Organization(AA)• Employees will have high level of frustration,

distrust, low morale and lack of interpersonal relationship. There may be transference of market violence to work place.

It is essential to promote SS or HH type of interaction to maintain harmony.

Illustrative Ethical Values in Business from Ancient Texts

• From time immemorial man has tried to achieve excellence in endeavors.

• Vedantic genius grasped long time ago that problems springing from secular pursuits cannot be resolved by pressing forward on the secular route.

• It was equally perceived that answer to growing complexity is not to invite a greater tangle of complexities.

• The solution lay in the conjunction of their opposites: sacred and simple.

• This insight was formulated into a four-goals system view(chaturvarga) of human existence.

CHATURVARG OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

DHARMA ARTHA KAMA MOKSHA

Rectitude and righteousness

Money and wealth

Desire and Needs

Liberation of the spiritual core.

• The secular goals of artha and kama are integrated into the models within the bounds of dharma or ethico-moral propriety and moksha or liberation of the inner spirit core.

• Modern interpreter like Vivekananda sums up: ‘every act is a spiritual prayer and every step is a pilgrimage'. In other words key task of management of any secular aspect of life is to transform and elevate it into sacred process.

• The principles of Chaturvarga can be applied to business.

Making Vedantic Spirionomics a Reality

1. Most insistent principle and goal of human existence is to aim and strive for a pure mind(chittasuddhi)-emotions, feelings and matters of the heart always take precedence over intellect-sharpening. Emotions and feelings are the first to make secret choice. We use words such as broad-minded and large hearted. Christ tell us “ Blessed are the pure heart, for they shall see God”. Vivekananda said each morning we start or work we should clean our mind.

2. Vedantic thought is equally emphatic on law: the subject is the cause, object is the effect. Whether one paints beautiful painting and another commits a murder, both these object events spring from subjective source harboured within. In management, the crux lies in the decision maker, who makes the structure and the system and not in what is created. Launch any rational new system today, tomorrow it will be mnupulated.

3. The vedantic thought offered a general theory and method of work who are capable of reconciling short-term and long term goals and at the same time enhancing the purity of mind.

4. Vedas explain that universal problems with humans at work is inner turmoil accompanying external work. This happens because individual motives in work life measures success in terms of relative, competitive comparisons with others, which dissipates energy.

5. Resolute practice of nishkama karma will enhance the spirit of work is worship.

6. This leads to ‘ego-less’ work.